2009年4月1日 星期三

Coral Conservation Becomes Taiwan’s Newest Environmental Issue Recently, there has been a great deal of concern voiced by scholars regarding coral ecology in the waters off Taiwan. Due to excessive human activity with little thought of the environmental impact, Taiwan’s coral reefs are in (1) of being irrevocably damaged. In an attempt to reverse this trend, experts have been pointing out the (2) economic benefits and business opportunities that the island’s coral habitats offer and stress that they are worthy of conservation and permanent protection. The ideal location for coral habitats to thrive is between 30º north latitude and 30º south latitude in (3) warm, shallow waters. These are the (4) around much of Taiwan, which is why it is home to such a wide variety of coral. In fact, in the past Taiwan was often (5) to as the “Kingdom of Coral.” These days, however, the coral ecosystems around the island have been suffering greatly from pollution, extensive fishing and ocean resources development which are causing them to turn white and even die off (6) . Coral environments are (7) for a wide variety of sealife in terms of their habitat, feeding and reproduction and therefore their threatened existence may in turn threaten the balance of the entire region’s ocean ecology. Experts claim that ocean conservation awareness (8) behind other major environmental concerns in Taiwan by about 30 years. The (9) of most environmental organizations is set on wildlife or bird conservation with little thought given to what lies beneath the waves just off our coastlines. It is hoped, however, that as Taiwan continues to develop its burgeoning tourism industry, the attention of investors and developers will be (10) to the treasures of the ocean, and that economic interest will help put pressure on the authorities to do something about the issue before it is too late.